Hades
by Diversity Sol
Summary: This is a short 2 ch. story of the Prototype Hades. After Blackwatch invades his town he want payback and them removed, down to any potential source of the virus. It's time the virus met it's end and Blackwatch put in their place for good.
1. The Beginning

It was a peaceful day in America unless you live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania then it's never peaceful. Thanks to a certain company trying to weaponize the Mercer Virus for the umpteenth time, the big town Pitts was now under martial law in all directions and no one was allowed in or out. Who runs the show? A PM called Blackwatch. Rumors circulate that these guys have little rank and little protocol. To put simply, these nuts were no better than average military, and the green coats are fed up with their call. Thankfully, they ain't the only ones. One of the geeks in Gentek asked for a single specimen to be brought in a sealed room and treated the facility and subjects like an SCP story. The Black coats got irritated that results weren't being made until he threatened to put THEM on the waiting list. Samples were flawed intentionally for people with criminal records, of which, there were plenty of people with extensive histories that were confirmed. Whoever the geek was, they knew what to do. Shortly thereafter, he was pressed for results and got a civilian for the final product. The human subject was injected with a viral cased CRISPR protein that contained Pariah's DNA and RNA code samples in full sequence. The change for the human subject was uncomfortable as the shift was painful but not intense as the subject was able to stay conscious throughout the process. At the end of the procedure, the Black coats were ordered to kill the subject. Of course none of their methods for the virus worked as this wasn't a virus in front of them, it was humanity's final purpose. Seeing the threat, the subject broke out and lay low. That subject, was me. These days I wake up to an alarm clock in a building that's empty, save for what few breaker switches I had turned on to keep myself in a human setting, but with Blackwatch, that wasn't happening. I've actually been chipping away at their operations and slowly reaching the limits of human technology and human conditioning. At this point, even with the little mass I've gotten, I can lift trucks that weigh in at five tons, run 25 mph or 40 kph, shoot a target from thirty meters with a pistol and so on and so forth. I'm like the Agent from Crackdown except I'm hurting a military instead of helping it. Unlike the last two times though, these jarheads wised up and kept their 'pet' projects as restricted and restrained as possible. Only the eggheads get in and even they are on lock-down. So far I only have the claws on account they were doing population control with a Hunter and since then, they've kept their scientists so close to their scopes it's impossible to get somewhere unless you're Gordon Freeman. I know I'm making too many references but what else am I supposed to say for comparisons?

Anyway, the labs are under ground and the ventilation is to fine for even dust to get in, making the place sterile. Only way in is through security detail which is where the cracks are, but they've also got restriction on where they go. Only other thing is to bust in guns blazing, which I have plenty of to use. "May as well." I look at my store and gather up a pistol, machine rifle and a rocket launcher with what extra ammo I can carry and put on a Blackwatch disguise. The only thing I don't have is the training memory to fly a fighter jet of any kind but that would be pointless given the lack of military airfields. Though it would be a future investment to maybe stop the air strikes. Shaking that off, it was time to get some upgrades. From a few on call briefings, the eggheads were transporting a secret project that was meant to help with weapons development. The Black coats are hoping to identify the compound for better weapons and even better munitions. Not on my watch. Arriving at the checkpoint, the truck was shaken from inside. It knows I'm there and if the troops see that, they'll open on me. I would have to make this quick, wear it down and go for the meal while it's weakened. Once then I jump ship and GTFO before they call the strike package and those are hard as fuck to outrun in open spaces and coming out the way I went in was a positive ID then and there.

Aiming my gun and letting it break out I see what it is. It looks vaguely like an insect with a hardened carapace but not armor. The arms though looked like rifles and launchers. Whatever this thing was, it was like a gun given flesh, form and life. "Open up!" I give the order and start shooting.

"Wait, you'll damage the subject!" A scientist shouted.

"Get your notes together and shut the fuck up doc. If this thing gets into the city and goes under we can kiss the new gear goodbye." A soldier unknowingly covered my ass while we started pouring the fire on this thing. It was surviving the onslaught of gun fire but the joint took some notable hits while grenades and rockets wore it down quick. Arming my own launcher, I fire off a round and it staggers. I quickly drop my gear, staying in disguise while I rush in and rip the thing's razor limbs off and stab it in the head before using it's own gun on itself while my tendrils dug in and devoured the thing from the inside out. My genetics adjusted and absorbed the beast's genes, incorporating a new ability. Unfortunately, the Black coats had me surrounded and the only thing close to me was a rifle. Picking it up, I was ready to aim when my mass from my right arm encased the weapon and the thing visibly changed and merged with my own arm. It looked metallic but unrefined. Still, I aimed the rifle and started firing and noticed my disguise had not dropped when I looked at my arm. Using this, I fought my way off the base grounds and ran into some buildings before turning back into my form when no one was looking. I came out the other side with my attire looking like a school student. They didn't notice me and I was able to escape.

Later that night, a call came in from Red Crown, so I donned a different disguise. "What the fuck am I working with!" That is the currently-pissed-colonel. "Hades now has the gene code necessary for Bio-Tech. This means that any and every weapon he picks up can be boosted on a whim once he runs out of ammo!" He took a deep breath after slamming a clipboard. "I am assured however that his body will likely use the physical rounds in the gun to spare his own reserves as much as possible but once he obtains the code necessary to use biological outputs, he'll have a near unlimited means of ranged attack. Future samples are now going to have escort teams and call checks for ANY discrepancy to hopefully keep Hades from getting upgrades. The next sample is already being made but until it's done, no one is being told who's shipping it or where! Dismissed!" Yet another vault lock. These guys have learned from Mercer and Heller that any cracks in security are to be mended immediately and this was a huge mend. Getting new samples was going to be tough and getting to the scientists was going to be hell too, unless I found them out in the field. Humans with doctorates tend to have more active brain lobes concerning memory and narrowing it down further with the lobe that has seen less action in survival, finding doctorates would be easy but finding them in the field and know the exact nature of their project was going to be a nightmare. Thankfully, I found someone that will be my unwitting pawn. Absorbing the scientist discretely meant taking out the snipers keeping him closely guarded. Lucky for me, the bio-tech code allows me to increase the muzzle velocity and adjust muzzle noise. Adding a silencer or suppressor, makes the arm more silent than a ginger knock on wood so taking out the snipers from an increased range was a breeze, but that also meant they would send replacements, so work had to be done quickly and discretely. Disguising myself, I walk up to the doctor while no one is looking and stab my hand in his back. The quick death was met with my body flooding in and the shape quickly being adapted without notice.

So what? These monsters ain't so tough. They're brainless

I'll advice you to not take these creatures lightly. The Juggernaut is a walking shield thanks to the virus. Tests have shown it's armored limbs and thick body have a strong resistance to bullets, bombs-

Doc, every animal has a weakness. Like a doctor, we dissect that weakness. With guns.

'Fuck me. A Juggernaut? Those are hell indeed. Those shields can withstand anything short of a nuclear detonation. I need to get those shields before they make their own and dispose of it.' The military base holding them is to the south, close to the airstrike zone. If I go in as the doctor after turning in some bogus papers, with some findings, I can get to the Juggernaut and wear it down. Once then I can consume it, but anyone that walks out is shot on site after a raid like that so once I go in, I better be ready to fight my way out.

Finding the building wasn't hard though. Look for the giant star. All joking aside, I had some papers with me but the scanners would pick me up and they are hard to avoid, so I had to act like I was in a hurry. Walking up to the gate in a rush, I got my scan and called out. "Open the door."

"Doc we have-"

"I know about protocol but I need to turn in my findings to the database. And need I remind you HE could be out there right now plotting ways to get in!" The soldier put in his scan and opened the door as I rush in looking frantic. Once in the elevator I put on a different act with the doctor, feigning safety.

"Ah, doctor Klaus. It's nice to see you well. How was the field?" A doctor addressed 'Klaus'.

"It wasn't so bad though if I ever see snipers on me again, I may scream from panic more than sickness." 'Klaus' stated.

"I know that feeling. The report can wait. Want to see our latest findings with the Juggernaut?" The doctor led me to the observation glass. On the other side was the Juggernaut and I noticed the bullets.

"I'm not military expert, but aren't those AP rounds?" 'Klaus' asked?

"Yes. Those shields are incredible. If we can diagnose the organic material and sell it to our military, we'll be living the good life like kings. But before that, we need a way to rip the shields off."

"Lucky for you I got just the thing." The doctor turned Klaus' was in joy only to scream in terror when he saw Hades before the screams were silenced quick. Going in, I quickly dispatched the soldiers so as to not lets the alarms go off and walked into the chamber with an arsenal. The big infected turned to me. "Alright tubby, hand over the goods." Hand over? 'facepalm' Da fuq is wrong with me? Shacking off the cringe joke, first weapons to go up for damage were heavy rifles. These things had AP round already so they only need the gun to help push them further with a few adjustments. Thankfully, the AP rounds were aimed for the biceps and shoulders instead of the arms. My goal is to wear this thing down and the guns were doing fine… until they ran out of ammo so out came the claws. Thankfully there wasn't much fight left in this Juggernaut so a few slashes as the weakened appendages and an arm came off, dropping it's defenses and vitality for me to feast. My arms exploded outward with thick mass that looked like stone. "Fuck yeah. Now I can get a little more physical with my 'admirers'." Donning the disguise again, I walked up and thankfully no one came in during that. Or so I thought. I pushed the button for the elevator and it moved instead of opened. Someone was down here. Quickly gathering a grenade launcher, I aimed at the elevator as center as possible. Hearing the transport stop and the door open, I fired a grenade round and threw a hand grenade in with it before raising a shield. The rounds exploded and I quickly moved the body parts out before heading up, keeping a few parts inside for a believable act.

The door opened and I shambled out as troops checked the transport then me. "What happened?" A soldier asked.

"Hades. Grabbed a rifle and rushed the elevator. Fired a grenade. Pushed him back, but some of us got caught in the blast." I answered with a disguised voice.

"Just get cleaned and checked before you leave. Alright boys let's get cleaning." The Blackwatch officer left while I shambled away some, using my sonar to see if anyone was watching before 'getting promoted' and walked right out of the base.

Later that night, another channel call from Red Crown. "Fucking dickweeds! Do I need to start shooting every one of your asses to say you're fired?!" That likely confused a few people. "I just got word that the Juggernaut is dead, its corpse found in the Gentek base and BOTH of its shields MISSING! To make matters worse, doctor Klaus and his security detail, Eagle Squad, have not reported in as of four-thirty-two this evening. All projects that Klaus was on have been informed and his name is removed from the project lists. If I hear about another fuck up, THIS ENTIRE TOWN IS GETTING THE HAMMER! YOU HEAR ME!?" That's not good. With the colonel calling the shots here, and no way to imitate a Brigadier Colonel in time, I'd have to get creative with the missions. Pittsburgh was now on the line and this man is not letting anything to chance. Getting new upgrades was now going to depend on what I find and where. Thankfully this area is big and they can't use airstrikes all the time or on the city as the collateral would be too high, so they expanded outward to ensure minimal construction damage and maximum containment.

Slipping out the next night, I got some tanks that have heavy weapons and ripped them off before adjusting the wires and triggers to make the weapons work like average weapons. While I was doing that, the Gentek information was aiding in development of a few measures I could take to make some armor of my own. The key was to find an infected with the correct genetic type closest to mine and make a parasite that could kill me, using my own code, to make antibodies. Once there, the antibodies can be consumed for armor. There was a problem though, the infected I had found was a leader hunter from the first outbreak. These hunters have two brains and spinal columns. Both backs would have to be broken before consumption, like an adaptation that Mercer had trouble with. So that means someone is remaking these things. Bad move. Getting my parasite ready, I approached the hunter and the fight started. Thanks to the shield, I was able to stay in the fight for much longer than I would have otherwise as the claws wore it down. Once the thing staggered, I got out the injection and ran it into the things neck. It screamed and started running as the parasite started to hurt it more. Waiting for the antibodies and using 'Hunt' to keep tabs on the antibodies, the leader was not interested in fighting until I saw a peak in its immune system and it got its second wind. It was time. The rematch started, but unlike the first time, this thing only had one spinal column to break as the second one was still recovering. Wearing it down again, it was fighting to stay up before my claws were run through its mouth and into its body as I consumed the parasite and antibodies. My body grew dull for a moment as my site faded for a bit, but before long, feeling more weight on me, a spun hard, knocking some infected off of me as my arms burned. I tighten my hands into fists as massive blades formed from my limbs. Looking at them, they felt strangely flexible. Going through some motions, one of the blade arms turned into scissors while the other compressed as a handed form. Both adjustments returned to normal and the opposite was done for each then back before the power retracted. Whatever they were, they were an upgrade for sure. Retreating the armor and donning a disguise, I was heading home before some cawing was heard. They were fliers and hungry ones at that. They rushed me and got in close as I drew a Glaive, hacking, slashing and consuming these feather brains before my arms burned again. They switch to the claws and expanded outward to reveal bladed wings. Looking to my feet as I felt a shift, my legs had gained the same properties as the claws. Recalling the sensation from the Glaive, the wings folded in until only the claws remained with the talons staying where they were were. After that upgrade, and slicing through the remaining Fliers like a food processor, I was finally home. Sadly, a body like this, where every part of me is the same cell, rest wasn't needed, as the mass in my body, made of the same cells, was effective at energy transfer and conservation, eliminating the need to rest at all, though it is a nice sensation when you can relax.

Night passed as I relaxed, and the morning arrived as my awareness rose quickly so as to not get caught flatfooted. Not two minutes and there was a call from Red Crown. It was a different person. "Good day gentleman. I am Major General Barkhorne. I'll be taking over the operation starting now by command of Red Crown and Blackwatch Command by unanimous vote. The reason is that Colonel Steele has been causing stress in the numerous working environments and productivity has suffered. If you're on security detail as a sniper, return to your assigned base and CO." Thank god a break. "Regarding Hades, we can not take risks, as Steele said, so projects will be funneled through me and Brigadier Grant. Operation and security checks will be carried out regularly for any discrepancy. Dismissed." The call ended. Not the best news but better than nothing. At least now I have a chance to get into every operation in Pittsburgh. I get the Captain or the Major and the city is open to me, but one false step and I'll be in cross hairs before I have a chance to get the first one. The best course of action is to consume the Brigadier, so as to use his CO for information to get to the project runners. Too many questions will raise a red flag or two so I better keep my involvement with the Brigadier as low as possible, at least until I have the tools needed to just break in and take the city back one base at a time.

Before contemplating further, the Red Crown line range again. It was Brigadier Grant. Donning a more recent disguise, I answered. "This briefing is in order. As of now, multiple bases are being more open with patrol routes and security checks to ease stress, and Blacknet Terminals will have a security check for any login fails to hopefully catch Hades the moment he tries to access a file. Now, on to more immediate matters, some projects need moving around to keep them safe as they could be compromised. Cobra One One, you will be transporting a shipment of what can only be described as slime. Whatever the virus was doing the conversion stopped half-way or even less and now it is a living slime. Containment on this thing is as top-of-the-line as it gets but shipment must be quick. For this Armor teams Panzer One One and Two are to report as escorts. Dismissed." A living mass of Blacklight slime? That can't be good. Reporting to the team on station, I get in the truck with a rifle on hand as the driver starts the engine.

"This is going to be the scariest shit I've ever been near." He said in fear.

"Not a fan of gak?" I joke.

"Not when the gak is alive and can melt and it anything that comes into contact with it. I don't know what the eggheads have in store but they better hope this stuff don't break out." Just as he said that, the truck lurched forward into the tank. "The fuck." He picked up the CB. "Panzer teams the truck just lunged what's happening?"

"It must be reacting to something up front. Evacuate the vehicle." We get out the truck and it lurches to me. "Corporal, get out of here!" I start running at human speed as the slime busts out and starts to rush me, covering me as it tries to devour me, in which I respond as I attempt to devour it back. "Holy fuck! It's Hades and the slime is trying to eat him!" This thing was doing as described as I was trying to consumed it before it started getting the upper hand before I started to devour it by funneling the mass in my legs to devour it as it advanced on me. Before long, it was consumed into me and Gentek lost another potential weapon. "The subject ate the slime! I repeat! The subject! Ate! The slime!" That was my cue to leave as I did not want any part of their bull.

After escaping their radar, I tested the slime's ability to dissolve practically anything. This ability came with some major benefits. For starters, after eating a Brawler I turned into the thing and it felt good. My claws, which were already strong, seemed to get a massive boost as I was mimicing the beast the claws came from. I was going to have some fun with this. Using my new ability in conjunction with what I already possessed, I tore into blackwatch and gentek bases, using the virus at its best with the forms that it created, making stronger forms with everything I consumed until I was a massive beast. In my 'unleashed' form, two additional arms grow out of my back with the hammerfist of the Juggernaut, with the Juggernaut shield acting as armor, my primary arms turn into the claws of the brawler and, thanks to Orion and the reactivated D-Codes, an overall larger and stronger body to handle the size increase. This, unfortunately, only served to overpower large numbers and a Goliath but the size alone was a detriment and I had few ways to rectify the issue.

Sleeping through the next day after clearing out other base and halting whatever projects Blackwatch had, I was now going through possible options of how to get stronger without losing speed, versatility and so on. I didn't have magic like Naraku, and even with the new ability, there were no variants or applications like with Rimuru in the anime about a man reincarnated as a slime. When I think Naraku and Rimuru, I think a massive void inside their bodies where all of their power is stored but with magic and 'magicules' being fantasy only, my power was limited. Or so I thought. Some time had passed when, during a mission to destroy one of the new tanks that was being made, Alex Mercer - yes the virus that should be dead – was at the base and tearing through soldiers. I immediately confront him and it turns out that his cells and Heller's, while similar, were still different genetically and as long as Alex's code existed, Alex would live. So I immediately turn into my slime form to start the predator process and encase us in the shield and armor Mercer and Heller both possess. What I did next, left me scarred as a human and made me more than humanity's final purpose.


	2. The Future

Foul. The air was foul in the city. After using Predator on Alex and encasing us in a shield and armor combo to keep the body immobile, I found myself in Manhattan, or NYZ. The whole place was divided into the yellow, green and red zones in a different way than the news. Green was civilian residence, Yellow was Military and Gentek and Red was the infect, of which there was a vast amount, making up more than half of this internal population. Before long I was sucker punched in the face. Quickly regaining my baring, I see it was Heller who socked me. "Another fucking Evolved."

"Not quite James." I drew my claw and Glaive, getting ready for a fight when something crashed between us.

"I have to admit," Oh no, "I was not expecting a little trick like that." The kicked dust settled enough for Alex to be seen. "And you dragged us to my home turf."

"Mercer!" Heller charged and the two Prototypes started to duke it out. They could fight like kings but I only had so many abilities and that's when something dawned on me. If I consumed the infected here, would it be like tearing bits of Mercer's power away. It was worth a shot as I ran to find an Evolved. Thankfully Heller was more focused on Alex than me so I escaped easily. Running the Red Zone in laps, I fought several evolved and gained their power as well as the Brawlers and Juggernauts that gave Heller his weapons, which I'm convinced were spawned from Alex and one of his powers. The fights made me stronger and stronger as I felt my body, at least here, gain vitality and reserve strength and more, much like reports said that James did. Taking down the Red Zone had little impact on those two as the fight continued. So it was time to free the people that were here starting with the Green Zone.

After a brief flight, thanks to the claws and glide, I was in the Green zone and started to kill the residence. To my understanding, this would free the people that were trapped here in some way and lessen the memories of pain and torment as Alex and James consumed them. This definitely effected their fight as the Red Zone was starting to 'produce' booms from the distance. Guess they both needed a break from the screams. Not long after killing the populace and hunting the stragglers to make sure no one was in the Green Zone, I flew over to the Yellow zone. Here, I consumed and reconsumed the key military officers for weapons and vehicle proficiency, combat experience and the knowledgeable restraint necessary to hide myself in public. This effected the fight again as the booming punches became less frequent. With that said, it was time for another spring cleaning but before I could make good progress, a certain emo landed on the building I was on and smacked me off before Heller planted Mercer into said building and I resumed the house clearing. This Zone was a bit tougher to clear as it was larger than the Green Zone and armed but not nearly as much as the Red Zone. Once that was cleared, I headed back to the Red Zone and Mercer followed close behind.

Landing back in the Red Zone, I needed help to wear Alex down so I went to the part of town where he got his blade and armor. He could almost read my intentions and tried to catch up, but I was the superior runner to the both of them and got into the part of town where the Hunter reside and started to fight it. Alex was, of course, trying to stop me, but Heller kept him busy long enough for me to absorb the hunter. Alex lost a good share of his strength from that and Heller was getting the upper hand. Figuring it was almost time, I booked it to my section of this mental landscape into Pittsburgh and redid the 'cleaning' process with the more important abilities. It's sad really. Alex is so powerful that I actually had to come in here to kill him. Yes I could have just consumed him but then he'd take his time consuming me like he did Heller. So I took the steps needed to keep that from happening, by coming into this mentally made place. After clearing Pittsburgh, I went back to NYZ and saw Alex Mercer, waiting for me.

"That was a dirty trick. I was able to beat Heller, so he's not coming back." He stood up and armed his Glaive. "Now I'll kill you and take my powers back and my world." The fight started and as must as I'd love to give you every detail, we were in a mentally generated city that did not fall as easily as a real city would with the fight that was going on, with close shaves, over shots, throws and more until it devolved into two entities of biomass trying to absorb one another. One would say it was a stalemate, but I recalled my struggle with the slime and repeated the tactic. I punched into Alex and wrapped around him, connected myself at both ends to devour him. No matter how you slice it, I had won. Or so I though. Turns out Alex had hidden away someone that he did not want anyone finding, and she came up from the ground in the same monster she fought Alex in. Her name? Elizabeth Greene.

She was the start of it all. Greene was the woman who's body started the events of what has transpired. Her body was the only one to show immunity and adaptation to the virus. All of her children, short of Pariah, were not as fortunate as her, Mercer and Heller as their non-coding genes were unlocked imperfectly or artificially. Pariah was a natural and complete release of these codings. Greene won't know Pariah's location but someone will. First thing's first, I had to consume Greene. She started to put up an aggressive fight using the concrete as bullets and summoning what few infected remained in the Red Zone to fend me off and fight me while she gets shots in. I used these infected to build my Critical Mass Reserves as my regeneration keeps my health topped off. After the last infected was killed, Greene did something unexpected. The mass she was covered in changed as her skin glowed and her hair grew and radiated like a blaze, with her suit being replaced with the blacklight and turned into a red and black dress as if she were to resemble a goddess. "The time for waiting, is once again at an end." Her large dress compressed into a more form fitting shape as her hair retracted some and her arms changed shape, into the Glaive. I did the same, donning some of Alex's armor and Heller's shield as Greene and I fought in the now barren Red Zone of this NYZ. Her dress, deceptively enough, was tough as armor from the fiber layering as my blade was not cutting through and she was keeping her head well guarded so no decapitation, so I change my tactics to use blunts and she meets my strategy.

Because I'm using powers she knows, and has had time to access and absorb, I was forced to make new powers and prototype their use. The first was Weapon Arm, which quickly changed my limbs into weapons with each attack. This not only threw her off but her shield did little good as there was no reliable way to telegraph the next move. Next was Ooze, which melted her armor dress before Toxin was used to wear down her health even more. Next was Beast Maw, turning my arms into beast heads that took bites out of her dress and her flesh, restoring what vitality I had lost but this wasn't doing any lasting injury. Time for a new Devastator. Releasing my Critical Mass, the flesh I had stored funneled around me and helped me grow in size as it turned into massive armor. My next few attacks in this mammoth suit of flesh punched right through Greene's armor and she tried to run only for a tail from me to grab her and bring her to me as I started punching the ground as massive spikes grew from my arms and punctured her body. Before long, I ran out of time in the armor but she was out of vitality and so I consumed Greene. As expected, I learned nothing of Pariah but it was finally quiet in here. Speaking of here, I was in a shell made of armor and shields. It must look different and also be in a different area as I was out for so long. Time to see where I am.

Alarms. Men with guns. Fuck my tentacles clockwise in the damn pussy. I was moved to a lab as an egg?! EGG NAPPERS! But seriously, they fucking moved me as an egg from the roof of a building. How did they… oh. The Orion. Seeing one reminded me of their strength so I didn't question it any further. So to put my new arsenal to the test, I whip out the whipfist and mix it with Bio-tech. The result was a single wire of barbed and flexible biomass that shred through living and even tough flesh like no one's business. So escaping the lab was no issue but that left one possible threat, Pariah. Where ever it is, whatever it is, Pariah's moral compass will determine if I go for the kill or leave it be. That was something that could not wait, but I had to report in. After getting chewed out by Barkhorne, I was able to convince the Captain to pull blackwatch and gentek out as the virus had practically vanished, on account I pulled Heller's city wide consume stunt to neutralize the New Red Zone and consume it completely.

After they pulled out of my home, I left in search of Pariah. Thankfully staying under the radar was easy sine Blackwatch and Gentek stayed closer to New York, waiting for Alex or Heller, not knowing the two were dead for good. Using what memories I do have, I found the base where Blackwatch trains their troops and went right for the big bosses that had information on Pariah. Thankfully, I found him after three others.

General Julius Viscount

So Pariah has been successfully relocated?  
Yes sir. No one outside of a small circle of Gentek Scientists and Blackwatch Specialists know Pariah's location. The mission to keep him far away from Mercer and Heller stands as a precaution.  
Good. That child would be the death of humanity if either of them found the subject.  
Sir. Hades too?  
It's safe to assume that if Hades found Pariah, the result would be the same and just as bad.

So the general oversaw the operation but did not memorize the location. Too bad you didn't do the same for the Scientist. Finding him was an easy matter.

Jason Wills MD

So it's done?

Yes. Pariah was relocated to Alcatraz as instructed, far away from the virus and away from human civilization.

As long as Blackwatch's security improvements for the island prison are checked and updated every three days and the cell checked bi-daily, Pariah will have almost no chance of escape.

Almost, sir?  
The only ways for Pariah to escape is for an infected to break in, a guard to let it lose or Pariah forcing it's way through or around the security.

Well we don't have to worry about the first fear, that's for sure.

I'm a scientist but even I must comply with an amen.

Got you now.

Sprinting to San Francisco off the beaten path, I was making good time and made it to the Bay City in about three days, and that's pacing myself in case of any patrols or even cops. Making it into town from the south, I was loving the smell of slat water from the nearby ocean. The town itself was almost entirely surrounded by water but Alcatraz is completely closed off from human society by water, a recently installed barrier and Blackwatch. People didn't mind Blackwatch since they weren't bothering anyone but considering the news they heard, as evident by the conversations I did hear, Blackwatch was still on the shit list of the population. Anyway, the troops in charge of Pariah's security have an internal and external perimeter and the are switched out every twelve hours while the detail that is present switches six hours in. Must be something with Pariah itself making these guards take the extra precaution. After the second five hours, some carriers fly in over the barrier and the first guards to be switched out are the guards inside then the outside guards swap and the carriers fly off. If the prison had the barriers before the breakouts, it would likely still be in full service today so why? Thanks to the Golden Gate Bridge acting as the landmark, the carriers fly to the east. For them to make the trip within five hours, they must be importing their troops from a base within the flight time without using unnecessary resources.

This means that there is a base or installment to accommodate the troops food, housing and entertainment but getting in would be more than a little suspicious as these guys are guarding Pariah to the point that no one outside the detail is allow to know about it unless the proper command is informed of any additions. Whoever made the security detail is either very paranoid or read a lot of SCP files on the respective wiki. I can break in, but without knowing the details of the guards and the island, I'm more likely to put the city in danger, just like with Pittsburgh. I eventually became frustrated with the waiting and followed the next carrier out, using my biomass that made my clothes to use a form of actively shifting camouflage, a bit like Venom from the comics. Dear god I'm easily bored. Anyway, after making it to the base, I was able to sneak in and lay low to find and consume one of the security detail, which was not easy by any means with the number of troops in one room. Thankfully the restrooms were similar to the ones found in stores so getting a disguise was easy and getting to the island was another thing but I needed more details. So I reported to the CO. "Sir."

"At ease soldier. What did you need?"

"Sir, I'm familiar with why the security detail changes since a tired detail is easy to exploit but why an island and why the upgrades?" I asked.

"Son, how do you hold back a deployment or a war?"

"Sir?"

"Water makes it hard for a virus to travel unless it can turn into something water born and air born vectors are accounted for too. The island was upgraded with Blacklight in mind and every contingency plan was taken into account, including the nuke under the island."

I was shocked. Thank god for masks. "A nuke sir? How strong?"

"Don't sweat your panties about the town son. It's a weak five megatons of Californium, too weak to irradiate the town but still enough to give Pariah cancer, maybe."

"But why Alcatraz? Aren't there any other prisons on the water we could use?" I had to know if this was deliberate or desperate.

"We needed a prison that could be easily updated and is as isolated as possible as well as someplace that wasn't just out of service but somewhere we don't have to involve human life. Pariah is not worth taking a chance." So this was out of desperation. I saluted and left. Before long I was called out for security detail and left for Alcatraz. I went inside and went as far as I could until I saw Pariah. I waited for my position shift then waited for my next shift, staying outside the next time and going in. When the next shift came, the guards stayed while the new ones came in and the previous detail left. So I spent the next shift looking for ways into Pariah's cell and that was impossible as the only way in was underneath the cell and the cell was on the ground level. Only other way in was to break in. So that's what I needed to do but there was the nuke under the island and without knowing where it was, the base would be blown to shit. Thankfully the nuke had to be detonated from a console so all I had to do was disarm the console and then I could fight Pariah, if needed.

I feel thoughts being projected in my head though as I hear a voice. "You killed her. You killed mother." A tendril shot out of the door and damaged the console but instead of keeping the bomb from going of, it exploded. The next thing either me or Pariah know is that we are on the remains of the island. "The time for humanity has come." From those ominous words, we were more or less destined to fight, the human turned Hades or the final purpose of life. Whoever won was the future of humanity. Pariah surprises me by turning its arms into a beast maw and extending it like a whipfist which tells me that this thing was not bound by restrictions of shapeshifting like those less than him were. His body could just do whatever he wanted as long as he thought of it. I had Pariah's CRISPYR protein so I could do the same thing right? Well imagine my embarrassment when I formed bladed tentacles out of my back. All this time I already had all the power in the world and I still got more. Was I good, evil or corrupt. That question had to wait as Pariah had more practice in his head for the past fifteen yeas than I did for the past year in the field.

The fight stayed on the island before blackwatch came in and Pariah ran. I followed suit and was on his heels. Surprisingly, we fought while running as we were still deciding humanity's future. Well if that future meant watching anyone innocent die, I would rather take the risk and consume Pariah. Using the same method as with Mercer, the fight was relocated in our minds as the physical mass gained or lost ground depend on who was doing better. For a while there was no clear winner before Pariah stuck his hand in my chest. I thought it was over until my thoughts were fixed on absorbing and devouring Pariah. He saw he was being pulled in before severing and regrowing his arm. Even with just the tissue sample, he was better off admitting defeat when it happened. Now focused on just wearing him down so he can't take over internally after being absorbed, he tried to escape the shell only for me to use his own power to keep him in, like he didn't need to leave. This angered him and round two started. We were now evenly matched with that sample I got but I was a bit more creative than he was destructive as I grew large, armored arms from my back and used them as shields and claws while my left arm formed the glaive and the right arm formed the hammerfist, with the whipfist taking the form of a tail, muscle mass forming and growing on my biceps, triceps and pecs, armor on my legs and head and the tendrils being held in the palms of the secondary arms. These were my simpler powers but they were the most versatile together like this. Pariah tried to imitate the setup but it went with something more chaotic, a body he did not think to use. That not only gave me the advantage, it gave me the win as I absorbed it into a mouth made on my chest, gaining everything Pariah was.

Not even chancing my containment, I 'burst' out of the shell in the form I was using and broke out of the base. Some locals saw me and called me something that made me laugh inside, though in hindsight I like the name since it was better than Hades. The name 'Resident Evil' made me think of Baker when he turned into that monster so I didn't mind it too much but Capcom may take issue with my nickname. I didn't care as I now had a sole mission. Keep Blackwatch and Gentek away from the virus, and keep the humans safe from them, by any means necessary.


End file.
